Habari za sasa & Matukio

With prayer anything is possible

Have you ever been caught in a wave and felt the surge of the water swirling around you as you’re swept to the shore? Waves are a powerful force, a bit like prayer. They may start small on a distant horizon and build into a huge breaker. But unlike waves, with prayer anything is possible...

The days between Pentecost and Ascension are traditionally a time when the Church focuses on prayer. Just as the first disciples gathered after they had watched Jesus ascend into heaven, it says in Acts 1.14 “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus…”

The vision forThy Kingdom Come builds on this tradition and aims to see the whole family of God joining together to pray for the Holy Spirit to help them as witnesses to Jesus Christ and to play a part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities.

Our experience is that when people come together to pray amazing things happen. It doesn't matter who you are, there are so many ways to take part whether you're praying with your family and exploring new ways to talk to God, or if you're a student making time to pray in a different part of the day. We have ideas for commuters too with prayer prompts coming direct to your phone and for people who love the outdoors there are resources for organising a prayer walk or creating new prayer spaces wherever you want.

"We're asking people to pray in whatever way they want, with whoever they want and wherever they can, that others might know Jesus Christ." Archbishop Justin Welby

The main thing is to pray and that is such a simple thing to do.
Last year many churches hosted whole weeks of 24-7 prayer – some for the first time or in partnership with others. Others hosted prayer days, special events and half nights of prayer.

Project leader for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Evangelism Task Group, Emma Buchan, said, “What Thy Kingdom Come did was give people time and space outside their normal worshipping patterns to come closer to God and we heard many stories of the deep impact it had on people’s lives. I think some of us have forgotten the importance of praying regularly and intentionally for our friends to come into a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

One woman in a parish in Kent said although she had approached the prayer events at her church with some uncertainty she was transformed by the experience.“What awakened in me as part of my night shifts of prayer was a deep sense of belonging, of being cared for," she said, "and to my surprise at 3am when my two hours ended, I slept well and in the morning I was full of energy.”